


Let Allegiances Lie

by Magical_Persona



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, rhea is a bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 04:13:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20687315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Persona/pseuds/Magical_Persona
Summary: After the battle with Lonato Ashe and Dimitri are having a difficult time and Byleth tries to help.I picked the Blue Lions and recently finished the battle with Lonato. Rhea complained about my kids for hesitating and I'm a little salty about it so I wrote a fanfiction.





	Let Allegiances Lie

Byleth sat beside the small boy on the pew. She understood why Ashe wanted to be away from the rest of the group right now. Tomorrow they’d have to face Lonato and his militia.

“You don’t have to go,” Byleth’s voice was so quiet Ashe barely heard her over his own racing thoughts.

“I’m sorry, Professor, what was that?”

“Tomorrow, you don’t have to go,” Byleth repeated patiently. “You can take a sick day.”

“If you’re worried about me being able to perform my duties--”

“I know you’re capable,” Byleth interrupted quickly. “I’ve seen it countless times. I can’t imagine what this is like. What tomorrow will be like. We aren’t supposed to run into any fighting, but I’ve learned that usually means it’ll find you. I don’t want to put you between a rock and a hard place.”

A sad smile crossed the boy’s face. “Thank you. I appreciate that, Professor, but I am going with you. Lonato isn’t cruel or ruthless he’s kind, there has to be some reason for this. Maybe I can talk to him?”

Byleth placed a hand on Ashe’s shoulder. “I hope you can. It would be nice to see him brought in without bloodshed.”

Ashe nodded, an uncomfortably somber expression on his face. “Yes. Hopefully.”

The next day saw both Dimitri and Ashe doing their best to calm Lonato. Asking him to put down his weapons. Nothing worked and it was Byleth who dealt the final blow stepping between the two students and the lord.

After the battle Ashe was nearly in tears and she was reminded of just how young he was. Sixteen wasn’t old enough for this mess. To be forced to cut down people you knew and townsfolk you trusted and vowed to protect. Byleth could only watch sadly as Ashe walked away and try not to allow Dimitri’s outburst to get under her skin.

It was the meeting with Rhea where Byleth would have lost her position if she hadn’t been trained by Jeralt. When the compliments came she simply directed them to her students. They were the ones who sacrificed morals and what they believed in to complete the task assigned to them. They were the ones who had gone through the true struggles that day, fighting was nothing when she considered the turmoil her two best students were going through.

“I heard your students hesitated.”

That was the line. Byleth hadn’t even known there was a line, but there it was and it had just been crossed. She felt the heat of anger stir in her heart.  _ Hesitated _ ! Of course they hesitated! Those were commoners, people Dimitri had sworn to protect! They were the people Ashe had grown up with! Lonato was the only reason Ashe had made it to her precious academy in the first place! Of course they hesitated! They had to realign their moral compasses thanks to her precious church!

When Seteth chose to change the conversation Byleth thought about telling him where he could shove what he thought. Those students, those  _ kids _ were the future of the Kingdom! To Byleth they were the most important thing, maybe even more important than Jerolt. Maybe.

Byleth was fuming the entire walk from the meeting room to the cathedral. As soon as she opened the doors she let her shoulders slump, the anger was gone, replaced with concern. Ashe was standing in the empty room. He looked so small standing before the pulpit. It also looked as though he had been crying.

“Ashe?” Byleth tried to keep her voice down, but it echoed in the empty space.

Ashe spun around as though he needed to defend himself. “Professor. I-” he rubbed at his eyes. Silence hung between them like an executioner's blade before Ashe sighed. “I feel like I’ve let everyone down. I wanted to come here so I could learn to protect people, those people, the ones who raised me. Instead I killed them. If I had been better or done something differently!” The tears were falling freely once more. “Maybe I could have saved  _ someone _ .”

Byleth pulled the boy into a hug. It wasn’t okay. Nothing about this situation was okay, but her kids, her students, were alive. They’d made it back in one piece.

“I know it’s hard right now,” Byleth said gently. “But I don’t think any of us could have changed the outcome of today’s battle. You tried your best and right now that’s what matters.”

“My best wasn’t enough,” Ashe replied, voice barely above a whisper.

“It just means we need to get stronger,” Byleth explained. “Everyone is still learning. One day, we’ll be able to save everyone. Until then we have to keep getting stronger.”

She made sure Ashe found his way back to his room and casually asked Mercedes to keep an eye on him. She didn’t think he’d try anything stupid, but he was in a fragile state of mind. Plus, Mercedes had practically given herself the title of Group Mom. As much as Byleth wished she could have watched him like a hawk, there was another student to find.

Dimitri was a bit more difficult to track down. Thankfully, he nearly always had someone watching over him. She found Dimitri in the library pulling books halfway off the shelf only to put them back. Dedue was sitting at a table watching the prince with concern. When Byleth entered her gave her a nod before turning his gaze back to Dimitri.

“I don’t often find the two of you in the library,” Byleth teased.

“I was hoping to find something useful,” Dimitri sighed. “It’s hard to find something useful when you haven’t an idea of what you’re looking for.”

“How are you holding up?” Byleth asked.

“I was barely injured in the battle.”

“Sometimes the wounds that cut the deepest aren’t the ones we can see.” She gestured to the nearest table. “Sit.”

She had been expecting a fight, or at least a vague refusal. What she got was Dimitri sinking into a chair like a sack of potatoes.

“How’s Ashe?” Dimitri asked, he sounded as tired as he looked.

“He’s working through the events of today,” Byleth replied. “And you?”

“I suppose I’m doing the same.” The Prince shook his head. “Lonato was fighting for what he believed in. We’re all fighting for what we believe in. Those people,  _ my people _ , died for nothing! I should have been the one protecting them! Not skewering them on the end of a spear!” He slammed his hands on the wooden table. His shoulders shook with a few deep breaths before shaking his head. “How can I lead them after what I’ve done today?”

Byleth couldn’t begin to understand what Dimitri was going through, only hope to help or ease some of the pain. “You’re going through a lot. I know I may not have all the answers right now, but we’re going to find them. You’re not a bad leader, Dimitri. Everyone in your house would follow you to the end of the world. No one blames you for what happened. What happened out there today wasn’t your fault and you couldn’t have done anything to prevent it. These things happen. We followed orders. We did what we had to do. Sometimes there’s nothing glorious even good about doing that. But, it is necessary.”

“I don’t want anyone to go through this under my rule.” His voice was somber and his face was in his hands. “I’m going to be a better leader. I want there to be peace. I want people to be able to share their wants and needs with those who have to ability to change things.”


End file.
